The most popular, powerful league in sports has been throwing its weight around in recent months, often at the expense of its smaller competitors.
The three-night NFL Draft begins on Thursday, with the first three rounds taking place in primetime on Thursday and Friday night. Because of the scheduling change, the Draft will air directly opposite six NBA Playoff games, five of them in primetime — including Thursday’s Cavaliers/Bulls Game 3 and Lakers/Thunder Game 3 on TNT.
On Wednesday, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban voiced his displeasure with the NFL’s scheduling on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption. “It certainly irritates me on some level, it shows the arrogance of the NFL. … The NBA doesn’t have games on the final night of the NCAA Tournament, so you would think that the NFL would say, ‘you know what guys, we’ll give you your due, we’ll give you some games, and we’ll work around you’, and that’s just not their approach to business. And it’ll catch up to them some day.”
The start of the NFL Draft comes just two days after the release of the 2010 NFL schedule. For the first time since NBC began airing games in ’06, the NFL has scheduled a Sunday Night Football game opposite the World Series.
NBC will air Steelers/Saints on October 31, directly opposite Game 4 of the World Series on FOX. The game pits the last two Super Bowl champions in what could be Ben Roethlisberger‘s first game back from suspension.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell explained the decision. “Well, the rationale is that Sunday Night Football has become a staple, and that people want to watch football for the entire season. … [W]e felt it was best to continue on with that great franchise every night of the season and allow the consumer to be able to choose whether they want to watch Sunday Night Football or the World Series.”
One week earlier, NBC is scheduled to air what could be Brett Favre‘s second game at Lambeau Field as an opponent when the Vikings take on the Packers. The game, which could be one of the highest rated of the season if last year is any indication, would air opposite a potential Game 7 in the NLCS.
FOX Sports President Ed Goren, whose network has the rights to the NFL and MLB, told USA Today that he didn’t “have anything to say” about the decision. Goren: “Every league has to put its best schedule out. This really is an issue between MLB and the NFL.”
Earlier in April, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig voiced his irritation when news of Donovan McNabb‘s trade to Washington broke on baseball’s Opening Day.
It should be pointed out that the NFL Draft has gone up against the NBA Playoffs in past years. Additionally, Monday Night Football has been scheduled opposite the World Series each of the past four years. In fact, before Major League Baseball went to its current Wednesday start for the World Series, the NFL scheduled Sunday night games directly opposite potential Game 7s — though the league avoided scheduling games opposite Game 2s.
(Pardon The Interruption, USA Today 1, 2)
